In Spite of All the Damage
by Dracoqueen22
Summary: Sora/Riku. A stolen moment in time, where words are expressed and not spoken. Loosely related to Desperate Reflections.


**Title: In Spite of All the Damage**

**Pairings: Sora/Riku**

**Rating: M**

**Warnings: boykisses, boysex, spoilers, language**

**Description: A stolen moment in time where words aren't said but expressed. **

**Loosely connected to my **_**Desperate Reflections **_**universe, definitely takes place after KHII. **

**Title borrowed from a The Be Good Tonyas song. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Kingdom Hearts, _Square-Enix and Disney do. I also didn't make any money from this.  
**

**Dedication: To Juliet Ferris, who won a fic for being the 30K on my website! **

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**Sora flopped onto the bed with an unnecessarily loud sigh, throwing his arms out to the side so that he landed all asprawl. His head bounced on a pillow, flattening his spikes as he stared up at a perpetually boring ceiling.

"Riku, your ceiling sucks," he complained, kicking his legs up briefly before letting them drop again.

The steady clacking of fingers over a keyboard was Riku's response.

Sora wriggled about, hearing the mattress squeak noisily beneath him. His eyes wandered to the few posters on the wall, stuff that they had used to admire so much when they were kids. Stuff that didn't seem so... awesome anymore. Not with all that they had done.

"Homework is stupid," Sora continued, one hand tugging on a lone brown spike as it drifted into his line of sight. "I mean, what's the point of it? Who cares about vectors and vertices and... and..."

"Sentence structure?" Riku inserted helpfully.

"Yeah, that!" Sora agreed. "Who cares about that when we just saved the world?" His hand thumped against the bedspread with a dull noise, one spring squeaking in protest. "And isn't is strange that _no one_ realized what happened? It's like we never left, but here we are, almost two years older, and no one seems to care that they can't remember the past two years or us in it!"

Riku made a noncommittal sound in his throat that might have been a hum of agreement. Or a nonverbal request for Sora to shut the hell up. Either or. He did, after all, appear to be a bit busy.

The other teen was sitting at his computer desk, back to Sora, pounding away at the keyboard. His fingers were a steady rhythm; Sora hadn't even known that Riku could type that fast.

Sora turned his head, looking at Riku, taking in the length of silver hair, artfully pulled back into a stylish ponytail. Bangs still framed his face, but at least the band kept most of the hair off his graceful neck. And glasses! Riku was wearing glasses of all things, the lenses reflecting the light from the computer monitor.

"Since when do you wear glasses?"

Riku twitched. "Since, apparently, walking around wearing a blindfold doesn't help your eyesight any."

Well, duh. Sora could have told him that. He still didn't quite understand what Riku was thinking back then, and even now, that was a tetchy topic. He had never realized just how deeply Riku's inferiority complex ran until Kairi had pointed it out to him after the Nobodies and Xemnas had been defeated. And even then she hadn't been able to explain it completely. Which left it up to Sora to try and patch together something he hadn't even realized was tattered and worn.

Sora smiled, admiring the thin frames as they perched on Riku's nose. "They're cute."

"Shut up, Sora," Riku retorted, but it lacked any heat. Well, in his voice anyway. There was certainly some staining his cheeks, turning them an amusing shade of pink.

Sora just _loved_ seeing Riku blush.

The brunet grinned, rolling onto his side and propping his chin on his palm. "Ne, Ri-ku, what are you working on?" he asked, feeling rather mischievous. And bored. But mostly mischievous. And as his lover, boyfriend, _whatever_, it was up to Riku to entertain him.

"Term paper."

At the lackluster response, Sora sighed and tossed over onto his back again, throwing his wrist over his forehead. "Doesn't it feel... boring to do this stuff now?"

The typing paused, Riku stilling. "This stuff?"

"Yeah. Like school and chores and everything," Sora clarified, waving his free hand in the war as he purposefully pretended he hadn't just remembered that his mom had wanted him to rake the leaves today. "It feels...."

The chair squeaked as Riku turned in it, looking at Sora over the top of his glasses. "... tedious?" he finished.

"Yeah. No. Well..." Sora frowned, trailing off, unsure if that was what he wanted to say.

Aqua eyes regarded him thoughtfully; Sora could feel the weight of them. "Sora, make up your mind."

Pouting, the brunet dropped his wrist and looked at his boyfriend, resisting the urge to whine that wanted to crop up inside of him. "It's just boring."

One hand gestured vaguely, wrist encircled by a heavy leather band, specifically positioned to hide scars from their battles. "Would you rather be risking life and limb, tearing across worlds, fighting heartless, and facing certain death?"

In an instant, Sora was sitting up, eagerness lighting his eyes. "Yes!"

Rolling his eyes, Riku sighed. "Me, too," he agreed, and paused, a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. "But that's not going to get my paper written." And with that, he whirled in his desk chair back towards his computer, fingers striking the keys once more.

Sora laughed, swinging his legs around so that they dangled over the side of the bed. His sock-covered feet swished lightly over the wood floor. "It's not like I hate peace or anything," he added.

The typing paused, Riku catching Sora's reflection in his computer screen. For a moment, their eyes met. "I know, Sora. I know you better than anyone," the silver-haired male said quietly, his forefinger tapping over and over on the letter J.

Sora grinned at that, knowing it was about as lovey-dovey as Riku allowed himself to be. Of course, he could be quite cute when he didn't realize it.

Rolling his eyes, Riku turned back towards his Very Important Paper. Whatever it was that was keeping his attention away from Sora.

Sora watched for a few minutes longer. Actually listened to the wall clock decorated with a picture of some cartoon character tick by the seconds. And then Sora hauled himself to his feet, creeping quietly across the floor until he stood just behind Riku. He watched the characters appear on screen for a few moments before leaning over and putting his chin on Riku's shoulder.

His head tipped from side to side, eyes taking in the words that seemed to magically appear with each steady tap of Riku's fingers. Honestly, where was he pulling this from? Riku could bullshit better than anyone Sora knew. Perhaps he should work on persuading the other keyblader to write his papers for him. And in turn, Sora would do his math homework. It would be a win-win situation.

"Your shoulder is bony," Sora complained, digging his chin down into Riku's collarbone as the scent of his boyfriend trickled to his nose. Something darkly spicy, like nutmeg and pumpkin pie spice. Yum.

"Yeah, well, so is your chin."

"Oooo, nice comeback."

Riku, for his part, simply ignored Sora. And Sora wasn't too happy with that. It was Friday night and they should be out doing something, not working on homework.

Sighing, Sora glanced at the screen, but couldn't tell what topic seemed so fascinating. "What're you writing?"

Silver hair tickled Sora's ear as Riku turned his head a bit to glance at some book sitting open to the right of his mouse. "A paper."

Sora turned his head, clamping his teeth and lips on Riku's ear, tugging on it. "I know that," he complained, breathing hotly. He smirked when a minute shiver passed through Riku's body, his typing faltering before continuing its rhythm. "What's it about?"

"The difference between love and eros."

"What? Really?"

"No."

Slumping, Sora laid his head against Riku's shoulder, leaning all of his weight against the back of the chair. "_Riiiikuuuu._"

From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the other male smirking. "It's boring, Sora. Trust me."

Sora did trust him. And he believed that it was boring. Which meant it was up to Sora to relieve Riku of his boredom. After all, what were best friends (and lovers) there for?

Smiling, Sora dug his chin hard into Riku's shoulder, trying to get his attention. He turned his head, nosing into the delicate flesh below Riku's ear. One sneaky hand curved around the chair, pressing flat against Riku's chest. He could feel the warmth of his boyfriend through the fabric, and if he imagined it strongly enough, the beat of his heart.

"Riku," Sora murmured, nose pressing against the pale skin. His tongue slipped out, touching Riku's neck.

He felt more than saw the shiver that raced through Riku's body. Heat gathered in the other teen's cheeks. "You're not helping my concentration any."

"That's sorta the point," Sora said with a laugh, his other hand coming around to smooth down the front of Riku's belly, heading ever southwards. "Mmmm, you smell good."

Riku said nothing in return, falling silent and still as Sora's palm smoothed over Riku's clothed groin, rubbing a circular pattern over quiescent flesh. Well, not so dormant quiescent anymore, as Sora felt Riku's cock twitch beneath his touch.

Riku's breathing was shallow, as though he were trying to control it to prove that Sora wasn't affecting him at all. Which they both knew was an absolute lie.

"You're not fighting me very hard," Sora murmured into Riku's ear, tugging gently on the lobe with his teeth.

Riku's eyes closed, his head tilting ever so slightly to encourage Sora's questing lips and tongue. "Maybe because I know it's pointless," he said, and dragged his lower lip into his mouth, a sure sign that he was holding back. "And the benefits outweigh the costs."

Sora chuckled, his breath washing warm over Riku's ear. "The costs? Who's the future Econ major here, huh?" The sound of a zipper being pulled down filled the silence the moment Riku's fingers stopped moving across the keyboard.

"I figured that I would have to speak your language at some point," Riku murmured, his fingers resting on the keys but not typing out a single word. His face had taken on a rather attractive flush, however, and Sora grew tired of teasing.

He pulled back, and before Riku could offer a sound of anything – hopefully more encouragement than disappointment – Sora planted his hands on the arms of Riku's office chair and forced him to swivel around to face Sora. The computer no longer in sight, his lover had no choice but to look at Sora, who dragged his tongue over his own lips.

"You're going to ruin your eyes if you stare at that computer screen," Sora all but purred, his fingers flexing around the arm of the chair as he leaned forward, his lips mere inches from Riku's. "And you're already wearing the glasses you hate so much."

"Why is it that you hate them significantly less than I do?" Riku returned with a curl of his lips, not letting their mouths meet. He could play this game as well. His patience far outstripped Sora's.

"That's easy," Sora said, blue eyes sparkling. "Because I think they're cute." He closed the short distance between them, sealing their lips together in a kiss that was vaguely flavored with bubble gum and peppermint.

Sora's fingers tightened on the arm of the chair as the kiss deepened, their lips and tongues the only parts of their bodies touching. And yet, it was still erotic. It still managed to send shocks of want through his body, a pleasant heat building in his stomach. He practically purred, lewd images filling his mind.

He broke away from the kiss to lick over Riku's chin, an action he knew irritated the other teen but which he did anyway. Sora grinned as Riku groaned, rolling his eyes.

"Do you make it a goal to annoy someone every day?" Riku asked as Sora reached up, plucking his glasses from his face and setting them on the desk behind the silver-haired student.

Sliding back a step, Sora flashed Riku a disarming smile. "Maybe," he hedged, lowering himself to a knee as he peeled one hand from the arm of the chair to knead his fingers over Riku's clothed grin.

His hand encountered a pulsing arousal and Sora licked his lips, feeling Riku's gaze burning into his skin. "Someone seems a little tense," Sora commented, fingers of his other hand flicking over a button.

Riku's cock leapt beneath his palm, obviously interested in what Sora was plainly offering. "It might be because _someone_ has been teasing me for the past five minutes."

"It's only teasing if nothing else ever happens," Sora responded smartly, the sound of the zipper sliding downward barely audible over the whirr of the air conditioning.

Riku's hips shifted, the fabric of his boxers already damp, Sora gleefully noticed. He pressed his face forward, burying it in Riku's open pants and inhaling the aroused scent of his boyfriend. Something musky and spicy again. It had to be whatever soap Riku used.

"That's still teasing," Riku groaned, his hands grasping the arms of the chair as though his grip was the only thing holding him back.

"We'll see about that," Sora said, breathing over Riku's covered erection before drawing him out with skilled fingers.

Sora didn't wait or even plan an attack, he just closed his lips over the head of Riku's cock and flicked his tongue. Above him, Riku groaned and Sora heard the arms of the chair creak. The brunet couldn't help but grin as he took Riku deeper, his tongue swirling around the heated shaft.

He felt Riku's hips shift and Sora placed his hands on them, curling his fingers around so that he cupped the edges of Riku's buttocks, holding him in place. Oh, he might be teasing, just a bit. Sora was devious like that.

Riku huffed. "Sora..." he groaned, very close to a whine. "Let me move."

In answer, Sora pushed Riku deeper into his mouth, sucking harder. Riku shuddered, drawing in a harsh breath. Sora could feel him trembling with restraint beneath his fingers and he lapped gently at Riku's arousal, feeling the slow trickle of fluid across his tongue.

Riku always made the sexiest noises. They were enough to stir heat all the way through Sora, making him contemplate even more lewd actions. Like pushing Riku onto the bed and having his wicked way with the silver-haired student.

Hands tangled in Sora's hair, pulling at the spiked strands warningly. "Sora," Riku moaned, green eyes glazed as Sora looked up at him. "Okay, you've distracted me. But I'm going to burst if you don't help me."

Drawing back with a lewd pop, Sora let Riku's shaft fall from his lips. "Isn't that the point?" he asked cheekily.

It always amused Sora that, for all his bravado, it was Riku who flushed the deepest, whose pale cheeks turned a cherry red, even as his hands remained buried inSora's hair and his cock stood prominent in front of Sora's wet lips.

Riku's answer was a shifty-eyed look before he leaned over as he dragged Sora upward, bringing their lips together. Sora, having sensed his intent, rose to a half-standing position, all too happy to bury his tongue in Riku's mouth. The other teen sucked hungrily on Sora's tongue, the urgency in his actions depicting his state of arousal.

Sora's hands fell on Riku's hips, squeezing them beneath the fabric of his gaping jeans. He nipped at Riku's lips, body growing more and more heated. He loved the taste of Riku's lips, faintly mint, and sometimes chapped.

"Riku," Sora murmured against his lover's lips, rocking unsteadily in his unusual position. "There's a bed five steps behind us."

"I know. It's my room," Riku responded with an amused quirk of his lips, his fingers massaging Sora's skull.

"You're being purposefully difficult, aren't you?"

"You're the one that teased me first."

Laughing, Sora pushed himself to his feet, forcing Riku's fingers to dislodge from his hair. Without waiting for a responds, he grabbed Riku's hands and hauled him to his feet, Sora's strength always surprising the other male. Riku stumbled and Sora took advantage of that, pulling him towards the bed with a quick yank.

They went down in a tumble of limbs, laughter and half-hearted wrestling that resulted in stolen kisses and obvious gropes, Sora moaning when fingers grabbed his cock through his pants and gently squeezed. The mattress squeaked beneath them as Sora struggled to flip the situation to his advantage, but soon found himself pinned beneath Riku, the taller man straddling his hips and grinding down in all the right places.

Sora outright moaned, his skin flushing with heat as his hands found Riku's hips, squeezing. "Right where I wanted you," he claimed with a sparkle of his eyes.

"Liar," Riku murmured, and planted his hands on the mattress, leaning over to kiss Sora once more. His hips danced atop Sora's , applying a wonderful pressure to Sora's sorely neglected arousal.

Their tongues tangled and Sora squeezed Riku's hips, fingers cupping taut buttocks and massing with evident interest. He wondered if they could get away with full contact, even as he remembered that this was Riku's house and his family was probably lingering around somewhere.

"Mom's not home," Riku said against his lips, one hand moving from the mattress to creep under Sora's t-shirt, fingers splaying against his flat abdomen.

And what could Sora do but take that as an open invitation. "Really?" he said, his fingers moving immediately to the annoying buttons on Riku's shirt. He twisted them out of the loops with quick motions. "Your dad?"

"On a business trip."

Sora digested this, already thinking of how he could take advantage of their situation. "Your brothers?"

"Game and Art Show respectively," Riku answered with a hint of impatience.

"Sweet." Sora's grin could have lit the world.

Clothes were all too easily shed, their arms getting tangled as Sora tried to unclothe Riku and his lover attempted the same. Sora laughed when Riku tangled his arms in the sleeve of his long-sleeved shirt, and Riku returned the favor by mouthing Sora's collarbone, a particularly ticklish spot.

"Lotion or something?" Sora demanded, his hands smoothing up Riku's side, feeling small scars beneath his fingertips. "I _know_ you're busy at night," he added teasingly.

Because it was always, _always_ amusing to watch Riku turn red like that.

Riku kicked off the last of his boxers from where they tangled around his ankle, leaving him utterly nude, except for his socks, and leaned over the edge, fishing underneath the bed for some kind of lubricant. Sora took the opportunity to lean upward, his tongue dragging a wet line from the top of Riku's abdomen to a perked nipple. Riku shivered, especially when Sora's fingers tracked back downward, stroking his cock slowly.

He watched as goosebumps covered Riku's pale skin, bringing with them a flush of arousal. And then Riku emerged victorious, holding an unlabeled bottle. His hair was falling loosely from its half-ponytail, bangs slipping into his face.

Sora reached for the bottle, and Riku dangled it just out of his reach. "What'll you give me for it?" Riku asked, free palm pressed flat against Sora's chest as he shifted position, straddling Sora's much neglected arousal.

"Whatever you want," Sora near-whined, one hand grabbing Riku's hip and squeezing as he made another grab for it. "Don't tease."

Riku snickered, something gleaming in his jade eyes. "You're pouting."

"Am not."

"Are, too." The bottle wriggled.

Sora grinned impishly, refusing to fight for it. Instead, he grabbed Riku's free arm and yanked, pulling Riku down on top of him. The other boy tumbled and Sora made a grab for the oil, snagging it and rolling at the same time, pinning Riku beneath him.

"I got it," he singsonged, one knee sliding between the silver-haired man's legs. "And now I got you, too."

Riku's eyes glittered without a smudge of defeat. "You don't see me complaining, do you?"

"Of course not," Sora all but purred, and bent his head, pressing his mouth against Riku's. A warm tongue slipped out to tangle insouciantly with his own, and Sora felt desire rumble through him.

He fumbled with the bottle; Riku took it from him and helped. And if watching his lover slather oil over himself and then Sora wasn't the hottest thing Sora had ever seen ... then Sora didn't know what was.

It once embarrassed Riku to stick fingers into himself, but once he learned how hot it made Sora to watch, he used it as a trump card. This time was no exception.

The smell of coconuts filled the air and Sora stifled a chuckle. The bottle was filled with sunscreen oil. He should have known; Riku bought the stuff like it was water, though considering they lived on an island and Riku had skin like that, no wonder.

Sora nearly whimpered as Riku's fingers curled around his erection, stroking the smooth oil over his rigid flesh. He unconsciously thrust his hips forward, seeking more of the skilled touch.

Riku did chuckle, dragging his tongue over his lips. "Something tells me you don't play enough," he said in a low voice that shot straight to Sora's groin.

"Why should I when I have you to do it for me?" Sora panted, fingers of one hand curling in the comforter of the bed and twisting the soft fabric.

Jade eyes rolled as Riku released his hold on Sora's erection, much to the brunet's disappointment. "That's just lazy, Sora."

"Is it?" he responded cheekily, and lowered his lips to Riku's throat, mouthing the pale skin but as always, careful not to leave marks.

One hand tangled in brown spikes, dragging his lips back towards Riku's in response. Sora grinned into the kiss, balancing his weight on one hand as his other hand trailed the length of Riku's left leg. His fingers skipped over the downy hair of Riku's skin, so soft and fine thanks to its paleness.

Riku made a sound in his throat that was pure sex, somewhere between a growl and a moan.

Heat coiled in Sora's gut, threatening to burst if he didn't do something about it. His hips pressed forward, the head of his arousal nudging at Riku's puckered ring, slick with coconut oil. Sora didn't hesitate, but apparently, he didn't move fast enough because Riku's other hand grabbed his ass and pushed Sora forward, urging the brunet to enter him.

And then it was tight heat and softness, Sora groaning as his forehead hit Riku's shoulder, his aching need encased within his lover. It wasn't Riku who needed a pause to get himself together, it was Sora, who fought against his own breathing to not come immediately and end this before it really began.

"Sora," Riku breathed, his breath a warm pant against Sora's ear, his tongue curling around the shell. "_Move_."

"In a second," Sora said, feeling his pulse throb through his entire body, Riku clenching and unclenching around him.

Fingers tugged on his hair in encouragement. "Are you trying to make me beg?" Riku demanded, his hips shifting restlessly and driving Sora deeper.

He groaned throatily. "If you beg that will only make it worse," Sora whimpered, and dropped his lips to Riku's shoulder, mouthing the bare flesh there.

Oh-so-slowly, Sora withdrew, only to push in again, sensations rattling through to every nerve ending and making Sora tingle. Riku's fingers dug into the flesh of his buttocks, urging him onwards, and Sora couldn't stop himself, his reactions purely instinct.

The bed rattled, and the sound of their gasping filled the air, Sora swept away by heat and sensation, Riku murmuring his name. A hand slid from his hair to wrap around his upper back, pressing their bodies together, Riku's length trapped between them.

Sora's restraint, already hanging by a thin thread, didn't last half as long as he would have liked. Riku was too sexy, his body too welcoming. Sora's gut twisted, heat building up a steady surge in his groin. He panted, mouth latched onto Riku's shoulder, promising himself he would make it up to Riku.

Sora shuddered, his pulse rapid and body hot, as he spilled inside of Riku, his staying power pathetically nonexistent. Pleasure radiated through him, and he peppered Riku's sweaty collarbone with kisses, letting the last of the tremors ripple through him.

Riku's legs tightened around his waist, squeezing impatiently. "Sora," he demanded, his aching arousal leaving a streak of fluid across Sora's abdomen.

"Sorry," the brunet gasped, pushing himself backward and forcing Riku to loose his hold. "Don't worry. I won't leave you hanging."

"I know tha- ah!" Riku gasped, head falling back as Sora took all of Riku into his mouth and stroked his tongue over the rigid shaft.

Riku throbbed on Sora's tongue, not much better off himself than Sora had been. The brunet curled his fingers around the bottom of Riku's cock, stroking him in time to the movements of Sora's head as Riku twitched beneath him. His legs moved restlessly, hips surging towards the moist heat of Sora's mouth, Riku murmuring encouragement with each sharp inhalation.

Sora soaked up every aroused noise, the taste of Riku slicking his tongue. Not altogether unpleasant, but familiar. He used every trick he had come to learn about Riku since they had admitted their feelings for one another. Tracing veins with the tip of his tongue. Massaging the sensitive head with his lips. Squeezing gently with his fingers. Stroking up and down in a steady rhythm, his spittle slicking the movement of his hand.

Above him, Riku strained and gasped, his body churning with enough force that Sora had to hold him in place with his free hand. He loved reducing Riku to this. A place where words were lost and restraint abandoned, where Riku allowed himself to feel and react and just be Riku and not the person he believed everyone expected him to be. No one expected more of Riku than Riku himself.

Sora peeled open his eyes, looking upward, watching as red spread across Riku's cheeks in an attractive flush. As his pale eyelashes fluttered and he chewed on his bottom lip in an attempt to cover his cries. As his hands gripped the covers, unwilling to put them anywhere else for fear of bruising Sora or pulling out his hair.

Riku was still the sexiest person Sora had ever seen. And he'd always thought that.

"Stop... watching me," Riku panted, catching Sora's gaze with an embarrassed look.

Sora's mouth was full, so he didn't speak, just hollowed his cheeks and applied some suction that made Riku gasp, his head falling back. His body trembled and Sora flicked his tongue, humming a low note in the back of his throat.

It was the last that Riku needed to send him over the edge. He bucked shallowly – Sora's hold on his hip preventing anything further – and with an aborted cry, spilled into Sora's mouth. The bitter, salty fluid coated Sora's tongue and he swallowed, having long gotten used to the taste.

Riku collapsed against the bed, sweat slicking his body and hair scattered against the pillow behind him, an interesting contrast of silver strands against dark blue cotton. He didn't even twitch as Sora lapped his tongue over Riku's softening arousal and Riku's fingers finally loosened their death grip on the comforter.

"I happen to like watching you," Sora purred, crawling up his lover's body and pressing kisses along the way.

A hand landed on his back as Sora's mouth met Riku's, the two of them exchanging a lazy kiss, the taste of Riku still on Sora's tongue. Sated and feeling lazy, Sora collapsed, limbs sprawling, atop his slightly larger lover.

He would get up in a few minutes to get a cloth for Riku. To gather their scattered clothes and get cleaned up before Riku's family got home. But for right now, Sora just wanted to lay here, pressed bare skin to bare skin with the silver-haired man.

Sora broke off the kiss with a lazy hum and squirmed his way into a comfortable position, half-sprawled on Riku and half-sprawled across the bed. His head settled on Riku's chest, his spikes tickling the underside of Riku's chin. The silence between them was comfortable, borne of years knowing one another, and coming through a difficult time by relying on each other.

"Do you really want to save the world again?" Riku asked, his voice piercing through the sleepy, languorous haze that surrounded Sora's thoughts.

He shifted, nuzzling closer to Riku's warm skin. "Mmm. Sometimes," Sora answered truthfully, practically purring as fingers petted his hair. "But I'd prefer it if you were beside me this time, rather than having to go look for you."

Riku's fingers stilled, his body tensing noticeably. "Yeah, me too."

Lifting his head, Sora tried to capture Riku's gaze, but the green eyes were focused beyond him, pretending to stare in the direction of a poster. "Why did you do it?"

"It's not important now." Riku's lips pulled into a thin frown.

"It is to me." Sora reached up, taking Riku's chin and directing the other man's face towards him, forcing their eyes to meet. "Why did you run away?"

Sora knew that he should have asked sooner. For the longest time Riku's actions had been the hulking Heartless in the corner of the room, always watching but never attacking, only waiting to be released. He and Riku had both ignored it – Riku most likely out of fear and Sora out of hesitation.

Riku didn't answer, his eyes skipping away.

Sora tried again, his thumb stroking the other man's cheek. "Riku?"

He sighed. "How was I supposed to face you?" Riku said, swallowing thickly. Sora could see his throat bobbing and Riku drew in a shallow breath. "I was so messed up back then and I tried to _hurt_ you, Sora. And what did you do? You forgave me. Like that. Like I knew you would."

Sora didn't understand. Riku felt guilty for something that Sora had already forgiven him for? That Sora had never been angry about in the first place? All he had cared about back then was finding Riku and getting Kairi back. He had never once thought of Riku as the enemy, not for a single second.

"Would you rather I didn't?" Sora asked, brow furrowing as he tried to figure this out. "That I'd gotten pissed and decided never to see you again?"

A flash of pain and despair flickered so quickly across Riku's face that it made Sora's own stomach churn just to see it. "No," Riku said, and drew his bottom lip into his mouth, gnawing on it with his teeth.

Sora's eyes gleamed beseechingly. "Then what? I can't read your mind, Riku, even if I've known you since we were kids."

"It's just..." Riku hesitated, and finally released a sigh so heavily that it echoed throughout his entire body. "I don't want to hurt you, Sora."

Sora blinked.

Was that all? The urge to laugh – entirely inappropriate – burbled up inside of him. Something so simple and it had bothered Riku for all this time.

The brunet knocked his forehead against Riku's shoulder. "Riku, you're an idiot," he said, not meaning it to be cruel, but to state a simple fact. "You'd never hurt me, even if someone else was controlling you. Not now and not then."

"Sora..."

The way Riku breathed his name carried so much emotion, Sora couldn't describe it. A mixture of relief and regret and joy and _love_, even if the words were never said, Sora knew that the feelings were there.

He kissed Riku, because Sora wasn't very good with words either. Riku was the English major here; Sora liked numbers. They were simple. Easy. Only one solution and all you had to do was memorize a bunch of equations. Words required thought, pre-planning, an eloquent execution.

Riku relaxed beneath him, his kiss tasting vaguely bittersweet and relieved. Sora's hand smoothed over Riku's bare abdomen possessively, wondering how else he could possibly show the precious feelings that he carried in his heart without those silver-tongued words. Riku meant more to Sora than anything; he wished he knew how he could say that in words that could be believed.

"Besides," Sora added with a cheeky grin, his eyes sparkling. "I kicked your ass every time, didn't I? So we've got nothing to worry about."

There was a moment where Riku looked like he wasn't sure how to take that before indignation overruled everything else and his mouth dropped. "Well, as I last recall, it was three against one. That doesn't count!"

"Excuses, excuses," Sora countered, nipping playfully at Riku's lips. "Come now, Ri~ku. Just admit that I'm stronger than you."

"Not if it isn't true!" Riku cried, and fingers dug into Sora's sides, reaching for all his sensitive spots.

Sora near-shrieked, curling into a protective ball as he laughed, trying to fend off his attacker.

"Not fair!"

"Look at that! The big, bad keyblade master has _such _a weakness!" Riku accused with a devious smirk, his face still flushed but the darkness gone from his eyes.

Even as Sora gasped for breath and twisted his body to avoid Riku's onslaught, he found he didn't mind. If his laughter chased away those shadows, then Sora would laugh until his face turned blue.

Riku always looked better when he smiled.

* * *

a/n: What can I say? It's just fluffy, romantic, cotton candy. Ack. Something I write so rarely but fits them, too.

Well, I hope that everyone enjoyed! I'm a bit rusty on the KH Universe so comments would be wonderfully appreciated!


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